Consequences
by Elliewelly1
Summary: set after dannice break-up. "He wouldn't want anything to do with her. She knew that from the way he had acted when she'd left. But something was niggling in the back of her mind which told her to do it. She had to tell him. It was wrong not to."


**A/N: This is a product of a rainy day and a depressed Ellie. Enjoy.**

**_Consequences_  
**

Everything you do in life has a consequence. Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life for the better. And, sometimes, it's the biggest decisions that can change your life for the worst. Either way, there are consequences. Consequences that you have to live with and move on with in life. Some can make you the happiest person in the entire world. They can fill you with joy and euphoria and you'll feel on top of the world. But some can have the worst impact on your life that's possible. They can make you feel horrible and leave you reeling. Some people can't cope with the consequences of life and shut themselves away from everyone they ever thought they knew and loved. Some can deal with it, allowing themselves to be supported by other people that they love and care for.

He wasn't sure whether he was coping or not. By now he knew that drinking wasn't going to solve anything. There was no point in shutting the rest of his life out. Others needed him. Whether it be humans or animals, some did need him. So he pulled himself together- as much as he could- and eventually fell into a routine. Just like he had after Sarah had died.

All he knew was that letting her walk away without fighting was the worst decision he'd ever made in his entire life.

**One Year Later**

He moved about in the animal hospital, cleaning up from the last operation he did on a pet goat of one of those who lived in the town. The Goat would be fine. Sadly it had to have its front right leg amputated, but besides that, he was fine.

He decided that he could compare himself to the Goat. He was fine, he was clinically alive, at least. That was worth something, wasn't it? His heart was still beating- the remains of it, anyway- blood was still pumping through his veins, and oxygen was still entering his body. But he didn't really _feel _alive anymore. And he knew what he needed. He needed her back. She fixed his heart and was his reason to breathe and because of her his blood was still pumping through his veins. She'd saved his life in so many ways- not just in a literal sense, like the storm. In so many ways.

Dinner was eaten where it was always served and as always he was under the gaze of inquisitive eyes. He knew that they were all watching him. For what they were watching him for her didn't know. Were they waiting for him to crack? Were they waiting for him to give up? Were they waiting for him to slip up?

If so, they were a little late.

He wasn't quite sure what he had actually eaten. He hadn't paid attention, simply ate in silence and listened to them all talk. They all had happy lives, of course they did, and he was just a burden on them all. He was just the Vet who was very, very broken and very, very depressed after she had left.

It hadn't taken him this long to get over Sarah or Miranda. Of course, he was still grieving for them. He would never fully _get over _them, he had loved them with all his heart at one point in his life, and there was no way that anyone could ever get over that. But… with her, the pain was still red raw and it still hurt him.

It wasn't the break-up that hurts the most. It's the post trauma that followed it. It was waking up and turning over, expecting to see her beautiful peaceful face, the face that wasn't there anymore. It's like starting your life all over again and you have no idea where to begin it all.

He clambered into bed again, screwed his eyes tight shut, and waited for the peaceful sleep that would never come.

**-x-**

The next day was the same. So was the day after that, in fact. He woke up and threw his clothes on, not bothering to look in the mirror. All he would see was a lifeless body with heavy purple rings bruising his eyes and empty eyes, a tight line as a lip and emotionless expression. Why would he want to look at that?

It was stupid, he knew. She wasn't coming back. And he knew that he should move on and socialize more and just… be himself. But it wasn't like that. It wasn't that easy. Of course, he wanted that so badly. He wanted things to go back to the way they used to be, before love had ever entered his life. But he couldn't travel back in time. So he was stuck here wishing his life away and not being able to do anything about it. He wanted his life to move on. But it wouldn't.

So for the next two months he carried on, in the same boring routine as before, but he never got attached to the animals anymore, and, to be honest, he didn't feel he was even making a difference anymore, he didn't feel that drive to save the animals anymore. And it really scared him. Throughout his whole life, the animals had been the one constant thing he could rely on. He always knew that if he sought comfort, he would go and help out an animal, they had always been part of his life. But, first his love had gone, then the animals- and he was pretty sure his family were slipping like grains of sand through his fingers.

He had never felt so alone.

**-x-**

She chewed on her lip nervously, stopping the jeep before she drove onto Leopards Dens dusty road. Her hands shook with fright for a moment and she struggled to stop the tears. Thank god she had left her daughter, Charlotte, back at Mara. It would have killed her to see her like this, she knew her daughter hated seeing her cry.

Taking a deep breath, she put her head in her hand, leaning on the wheel. God, this was a mess. What was she doing here? Why had she come here? He didn't care about her at all. He hadn't phoned to ask her to come back and when she was walking away he had just watched her go without a fight. She was nothing to him. Nothing at all.

So why did she still feel like she owed him this much to tell him herself? He didn't care. He wouldn't want to know. He wouldn't want anything to do with her. She knew that from the way he had acted when she'd left. But something was niggling in the back of her mind which told her to do it. She had to tell him. It was wrong not to.

So, wiping one last tear away, she switched the ignition back on and drove.

**-x-**

He sighed as he walked out of the animal hospital. It was only lunchtime and he hadn't any more appointments for the rest of the day. Or the one after that. People had stopped coming to him recently, ever since he had started to get even worse, like they all realised he suddenly didn't have his passion for animals anymore. He nearly kicked the tree he was walking by. He was so frustrated with himself; why didn't he feel that passion anymore?

He sat down with the others on the veranda, it was strange for them all to be here, they all gave him a confused look- he knew what they were thinking, why was he here?- but they didn't comment on his sudden appearance. They continued on with their conversations as if everything was normal. And really it was. This was the normality now. He would sit in silence and just listen to their conversations, watch them be happy while he most definitely was not.

His breath caught when he saw her. Driving up towards Leopards Den with a frightened look on her face. She parked by the stairs, grabbed something on the seat next to her, and began walking up the stairs. Everyone turned deathly silent at the sight of her. He watched her, drinking in her appearance. Something had changed about her- had she put on more weight? She seemed a little… chubbier. Not that was a bad thing, she had always been a bit on the skinny side. But something else was different. She seemed a little warmer.

"Hello." She said nervously when she reached them.

Dupe looked around, noticing none of them were going to speak, "Hello."

She swallowed, and then her eyes found his. He felt millions of memories spill through his mind, and he had always thought that looking back on the memories would make him laugh, remembering all the happy times that they had shared. But it brought a tear to his eye, remembering all the memories that would never be replayed. They'd never create anymore memories. He meant nothing to her.

"I need to speak to you." She said.

He didn't say a word, he simply nodded.

"In private." She added.

He swallowed and stood to his feet, he was so much more taller than her, he remembered that now, remembered the times that he had mocked her for it. He remembered how she had always had to stand on her toes and he would always have to dip his head that little extra so that their lips would connect. He remembered the electricity that would run down his spine at the touch, tingling from head to toe.

She lead him through into the hallway of Leopards Den, remembering the place easy. Then she took a breath and started speaking once she was sure they were alone, "Rowan and Vanessa are engaged." She smiled, "Do you still talk to Vanessa?" _Yes, idle chit chat before you drop the bombshell. That will work, _she thought.

He nodded. "They're not the only ones."

"You noticed." She whispered, looking down at her left hand.

"Terry?"

"Yes."

He shifted on his feet, "If you've just come to rub it in my face that you'll accept his proposal and not mine then you know where the door is."

Her eyes stung with tears, _'But don't you worry about us. Because I'm not going anywhere' _She'd promised him. Another promise that she'd broken in her life. "I'm sorry, I didn't come here to…" She shook her head, "It was stupid, I shouldn't have… I'll go now."

"Wait-"

But she'd already begun walking out the door.

_No, _he thought, _You are not letting her go without a fight again. _So he went after her, catching her wrist as she was walking down the stairs, well aware that the others were watching. "I'm sorry, Alice, I didn't mean to be like that." He told her.

Alice nodded mutely and he let go of her wrist when she made no effort of moving away again, "I didn't think you'd care but…" Alice reached into the pocket of her khaki's, and pulled out a small dog-eared picture. She smoothed her thumb over it and smiled softly before handing it to Danny, "Their names are Annie and Jessie. Annie's on the left and Jessie's on the right." She spoke softly.

Danny stared at the photo, feeling a sudden rush of warmth at the two young girls. They were only months old by the looks of it. They both had dark blue eyes, that beautiful sapphire colour, just like Alice's, and already had a full head of hair. One of them, Annie, the one on the right, had light brown hair that stood up on end, while the other one, Jessie, had dark black hair which look sleek and shiny. And they were both tiny, judging by the picture. Danny refrained from smiling, why was she showing them this?

"They're beautiful." He told her in spite of himself.

Alice smiled, "I know." Then she pointed to Annie, "She's got your hair, takes an age to get it to look normal." She smiled nervously.

Danny froze, "You mean…" She nodded. His mouth hung open for a moment, "But why didn't you tell me?"

A few tears gathered in her eyes, "I didn't know how to tell you. I didn't think you'd care because… because you didn't fight when I left." She looked down at the ring on her hand, "But I did want to. Terry encouraged me to. There was no way that I could pretend they were Terry's- Poor kids look too much like you." Alice winked.

Danny blinked, "I don't…" He looked back down at the picture with the two beautiful girls in it. "I can't believe it."

"Please, don't hate me for keeping it-"

She was cut off when Danny suddenly swooped her into his arms, holding her tightly and laughing over her head. She relaxed and smiled, burying her face into his chest and inhaling that scent. Once upon a time she would have fit snugly into him; like two pieces of a puzzle, that fit just right, as if they were made for each other.

Only, the pieces didn't fit anymore.

**- Twenty Years later - **

So he'd raised his kids since they were four months old, as soon as Alice had told him about them, and he'd recovered from the shock, he had demanded to see them straight away. Going over to Mara and seeing Terry with Charlotte had been weird. He'd been so used to playing the father role in Charlotte's life. But then Charlotte had laughed and took his hand fondly, pulling him to the twins room, he'd had to run to keep up with her. Alice had watched them from the doorway as Charlotte introduced him to little Annie and Jessie. She was a doting sister.

Charlotte had grown into a fine woman. She was thirty now, had children of her own, one failed marriage but she was dating a guy who seemed nice. Her three children were named Jack, Trent and Leila. A mixture of names. Danny sometimes did feel a pang somewhere near his hearts when her kids called him simply 'Danny', when he realised that, if he hadn't been such a fool and fought for Alice, they'd be calling him 'Granddad'. Not Terry. But that was just another consequence of his actions, and he couldn't live in regret forever.

Annie had been a bit of a handful to bring up. She'd always be getting into mischief, she'd even been a little bit of a bully at one point you could say, but not once had she ever picked on Jessie. Those two had an unbreakable bond. When Annie's first serious boyfriend, at 15, had dumped her, she hadn't gone running to him or to Alice or Charlotte, but to Jessie. Infact, he didn't even know they'd split up until months after.

Now Annie wasn't interested in boys anymore, only her job. Of course she was a beauty, both her and Jessie were, and she had captured millions of boys attention, but she was more focused on her job. Sadly, her job required her to live in London. But she flew over quite frequently to see them, complaining about the weather and how much it all cost over there, and how much she had actually begun to realise how beautiful Africa was, her home country.

Jessie had always been the quiet one. But she'd blossomed into the most amazing woman Danny had ever known, really. He guessed that she'd got it from Alice. She had always been smart, even as a child, she had been so intelligent. Instead of wanting to go out and play with her twin sister, she would prefer to be reading the latest Jacqueline Wilson or writing her newest idea down on paper. You couldn't tear her away from her books when she was about 13. She seemed to live in them. It was only when she was 18 and Annie had dragged her out to Fatani's- now owned by Cashile- one day, that she'd met Sam. Since then, she'd poked her head out of the books and was now in a steady relationship with him- Adam had even asked him for his blessing; he was planning to propose to her in two weeks time, on valentines day.

Including Charlotte's children- which he couldn't help but do- he had six grandchildren. Rosie had two young girls, Leah and Lauren, and Evan had one son, Jamie. Liv was considering adoption, after still not finding 'the right guy' as she'd put it. He'd encouraged her to do so.

He guessed that it was a happy ending. Of course, he still missed Alice. She was married to Terry now. He missed her with every fibre of his being, but he told himself that maybe it wasn't meant to be. Otherwise they would have been together, seen sense. He couldn't say that he loved her the way he did before- he did love her though, she was the mother of his kids, but really, he just missed having someone there for him. Just like she had done, just like Sarah had done, just like Miranda had done. But he had the rest of his family now.

There had been a time when he thought that he had lost his family when he'd fallen badly after Alice had left him. But when his two baby girls had been brought into his life it had changed for the better. He and Alice spoke now, they were good friends, really good friends actually.

Of course he wished that he had fought for her though, they would've raised the family together, but then things might have gone differently, maybe they wouldn't have stayed together anyway. It would've been worse splitting up when the kids were there, as well.

So, by judging it, he figured it was an alright consequence.

**A/N: The only thing that has proved good today is the new BT advert. I love those adverts. His face, gah:') **


End file.
